The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Final Pieces/ Qui-Gon's Prophecy

SHIMA

Shima strolled down an unoccupied hallway of Base Two, the name that the Rebels had given to an old Imperial Star Destroyer that had crashed on the planet Morvolo long before. She was enjoying the fact that she knew more about what was to come than anyone here... other than her Master, of course.

She had arrived on Onderon about a month before in her Fanblade starfighter. There had been many difficulties to set her Master's plan in motion, but now, the last pieces of the game were in place, and what a game it would be...

She suddenly felt that her Master wished to contact her through the Force.

Shima, are you in position? Came the cool and menacingly soft voice of her Master, the Sith Lord Darth Maul.

"Yes Master," she said. "The alarms have already begun to ring. Shall we initiate phase two of the plan?"

No. Not yet. But soon.

"And Ahsoka Tano is the only one to be fully equipped with her memories and aware of the situation?"

Yes, but not entirely. She must have her true backstory and the altered one. It will disorient her, which we can use. The others - the other Jedi and soldiers - will remember solely the preprogrammed backstories, and not notice any changes in their surroundings.

"As you wish, Master." She focused on the Force, making the changes her Master asked of her to the little surprise that they had planned for their enemies. "It has been done."

Very good, Shima. Set the beginning time for ten minutes.

"Yes Master."

ANAKIN SKYWALKER

Anakin sat in the snow on a sheltered peak above Base Two, his long scarf billowing in the wind, letting the Force flow through him. He meditated, both on the past and present. But today, his thoughts were drawn towards Qui-Gon Jinn.

A few hours before, he had received another vision from the ever-elusive Jedi Master, telling him to come to this peak. Based on what the Force was also telling him, Qui-Gon was ready for an audience with him.

When he opened his eyes, he was kneeling on a rough stone floor, with designs carved carefully into the different patterns in the rock. From what he guessed, based on his time on Tatooine, it was some sort of sandstone with slightly varying hues of yellow, red and orange.

Other than the floor, he could see parts of exotic plants here and there, but a thick, white, sun-filtered mist hid the ceiling - if there even was any ceiling - and prevented him from seeing farther than ten meters away in any direction.

"What happened to me?" he asked, and his voice echoed slightly. Logic supplied that he was in a large but closed space, but something told him that he wasn't. It was like he was in an infinite space... Closed, yet open to everything.

"Master Qui-Gon, are you there?" Anakin tried, squinting against the mist.

"Yes. And no," came the reply. He didn't recognize it immediately, but what he saw next gave him the clarity he needed to identify its owner.

A silhouette appeared against the mist, pausing for a moment before walking into the bubble of clear space. Anakin couldn't help but smile, and rubbed a few tears from his eyes.

It was Qui-Gon Jinn.

"Master... Where am I? Why have you summoned me here?"

"This is the meeting place for those of the Living Force and of the Cosmic Force," the Jedi Master said, and Anakin suddenly felt like he had heard those words somewhere before. "And, my old friend, I have brought you here because I must speak with you - about certain things that must be addressed at once."

Anakin took a step forwards. "What kinds of things?"

"For one, you don't really exist." Upon seeing his shocked expression, Qui-Gon smiled gently. "Let me rephrase that. You exist partially in this dimension, that of the Living Force, but you still remain cemented in the Cosmic Force, tethered here by Darth Vader."

"So... I'm still part Force-ghost?" Anakin was slowly beginning to recognize his surroundings. He had once held an interview with Ahsoka under similar conditions, when he had still been dead... But was he even alive now?

"Oh, is that your term for it?" He raised an eyebrow. "We prefer to call ourselves Specters. But call it what you will. Anakin, there is only one way you can fully come back to life. You must destroy Darth Vader."

"What are you saying?" Anakin asked, in wonderment and with a degree of uncertainty. "How can I kill myself...? My flawed mirror image?"

"It is the only way. There can only be one Anakin Skywalker in the Living Force. Be it the Light or the Dark version, one must be in the Cosmic Force as well for there to be balance. With both copies in one realm, the galaxy gets closer to falling into chaos and evil." Suddenly a harsh, cold wind picked up, and fragments of a snowy landscape began to show through the mist. Qui-Gon whipped around.

"What's going on? Master, I need more answers!"

"The connection is breaking up! An outside source is tampering with it. I can't hold it for much longer. Anakin..." Qui-Gon gripped his arms. "Bad are about to happen, things that I have no control over. You must remember this: if one dies, or if both die, then the Force will be in balance. That was the whole purpose of the Chosen One. But even destiny can make mistakes. Don't make the mistake."

And suddenly he was back on Morvolo. The Force will be with you, Anakin. Always, came the Jedi Master's voice, before it was gone.

*Shima and her Master Darth Maul have reentered the picture... But where has Maul been hiding all this time? And what is his plan? Will Ahsoka discover the truth in time, or will she be too late? And what has Lux found out about his parentage that he hasn't yet had the chance to tell anyone? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Hello all! You'd thought I'd forgotten about Shima, hadn't you! Well, I didn't, I was just waiting for the best time for her to shine again... And btw, if you all remember book five, Anakin was the 'dead' one talking to Ahsoka and telling her about the prophecy, and now it's similar to that except that Qui-Gon Jinn is the actual dead one and Anakin status of dead or alive is... well, questionable...

So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed! You'll see in the next chapter or the one after that what Maul and Shima were scheming about... Bye!

Discover that you're not the only child of Anakin Skywalker and may the Force be with you,

Sharron